Thailand, The Land of Smiles

After countless requests, I finally switched off my phone, turned off the telly, banned the dogs from the bedroom, and opened up my laptop to write about our trip of a lifetime. In this blog, I want to take you with me as I revisit the “Land of Smiles”, where the exotic beauty of Thailand awaits you. From the bustling streets of Bangkok to the pristine beaches of Phuket, Thailand is a country that absolutely amazed me.

Earning its nickname from the friendly and welcoming nature of the locals, their hospitable and generous spirit is deeply ingrained in the culture of Thailand. It has truly become a defining characteristic of the country, and it was easy to see why; each and every person we met was always willing to lend a hand, making us feel safe and at home. This hospitality, along with the aroma of fragrant spices and the sound of bustling markets create such an intoxicating atmosphere that left me spellbound. Even just stepping off the plane I could immediately feel the energy that permeates from this country.

Thailand is literally bursting with beauty; from the lush rainforests and the pristine beaches, to the stunning waterfalls and exotic animals (obviously a highlight!). And don't even get me started on the food… we had to loosen our belts a notch or two on a few occasions.

Now, if you're the type of traveller who plans every single detail, then fair enough. However, Theo and I like to live on the edge (call us rebels) and only book 50% of our trip beforehand. Crazy, I know, but it allows us to be spontaneous and really take advice from locals and fellow travellers. And Thailand is the perfect place to do this, especially if it's your first time. With over 1,400 islands to explore, each with its own unique vibe, you're in for an adventure of a lifetime.

Let me give you a heads up, don't listen too much to your friends and well-meaning acquaintances who visited Thailand five years ago. The country has grown and changed so much, and those beauty spots they rave about may now be dotted with Maccy-Ds and Irish pubs.

We’ve never personally been into mega resorts or all-inclusive spots. We like to keep it reasonably real and stay at the smaller hotels and Airbnb’s, which I promise to be 100% honest about; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

So, let's start with our journey in Bangkok, where the city never sleeps, and the street food will make your taste buds dance. Buckle up, buttercups!

Bangkok is where we started and ended our trip. One night when we arrived two when we left. Did I love it? No. Was it perhaps because we were in paradise for the other 15 days? Perhaps.

I have been lucky enough to visit a lot of cities in this world, but Bangkok was the wildest I’ve ever visited. The word chaotic comes to mind. To enjoy it you really have to immerse yourself in the culture… something we didn’t do on night one. We went to a sports bar and had a carbonara FFS. I totally blame Theo and jet lag and our friend Barney. I had absolutely nothing to do with that decision – I promise!

So let’s fast forward to the end of our trip as that was much more successful. Actually, before I do, shout out to the COMO Metropolitan Hotel. This was a fab spot and a lovely hotel. We always book the flights through our pal Ben at Dial-a-Flight. He is a fountain of knowledge and always gets the best deal. You can get hold of him on Ben.Till@dialaflight.co.uk. He recommended this hotel and it was the perfect city spot.

Ok, so I’m just going to tell you the best things we did in 48 hours in Bangkok.

China Town

This was such a crazy, brilliant experience. Pretty sure this street created the word BUZZ. Be prepared to see some very strange things. Eat the street food, especially the mango and sticky rice and visit Red Roses Jazz bar. A fantastic bar with an open front to take in the atmosphere whilst sipping on a cocktail and listening to live Jazz.

The Klongs Canal Tour

This is an important way to see the reality of Bangkok. As you glide through the canals on a longboat, you see the other side of life away from the glitz and glam. Shacks filled with colourful flags and smiling kids, river flowers that would make anywhere look beautiful, locals on boats selling barbecued fish and handmade trinkets. All entwined within the spectacular gold temples. It’s eye opening and really gives you a moment of clarity.

Rongros Restaurant

One of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to. Recommended by a friend who lives in Bangkok, I was tempted not to share this secret spot. But that wouldn’t be fair, hey? It overlooks the river and seats around 30. The atmosphere was wonderful, as were the staff who let us sit chatting an hour after they closed. And the food was sensational. In fact, it turns out that some of their dishes are in the Michelin guide. We ate and drank like king and queens and the bill came to around £40 each. Go, go, go!!!

Koh Samui

This was our next stop, and it was a quick 45-minute domestic flight that cost around £60 each. This is the quickest and easiest way to travel. We mainly flew with Bangkok Air and they were fab.

My auntie and uncle from Oz, and another set from the UK were meeting us here, but we got there a day early and stayed in the lovely Melati resort. It has its own private beach, a swim-up bar and only a handful of villa rooms. This was a great starting spot to what felt like our real holiday, now we had left the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

We opted for a grand deluxe room which I believe was the cheapest of the lot, but it was perfect. Very spacious and it even had an outdoor bath which I was thrilled with. However, the highlight of this stay was the hotel’s pet swimming pig. Yep, you heard me right. This little beauty would regularly wander into the sea for a swim and loved to be stroked by the residents. Obviously, I was straight in there.

The next stop was the Airbnb we had booked to stay in with our family.

Theo and I were there a day early and with Airbnb’s being self-catered, allowed us the chance to go to a local market for fresh food (including the biggest prawns of all time) for our first evening meal. That went down a treat.

 The accommodation was nice, but honestly, we found that Airbnb’s were at times over-priced for what you got (note, this was based on where we were going to be and the busier islands). As I mentioned, they would usually be our go-to on a holiday, but this was the only one we stayed in on this trip. We had a brilliant time as we were with our fam, and it had a lovely small beach only a five-minute walk away. Top tip: you definitely need a car, taxis or a moped to get around.

One place that was definitely worth a visit in Koh Samui was Café 69. We went here for dinner on our first night and well, I’m just going to leave my five-star Trip Advisor review here for you to read:

Michelin Star standard food with the personality of the wonderful owner.

This spot was recommended by many friends, and it didn’t disappoint. Before I get onto the exceptional food, let me start with the interior; one may walk in and feel like they are in 1990s Soho, London thanks to the leopard print, sequins and teddy bears. However, this all makes sense when you meet the gorgeous owner, Vivienne. The passion for his restaurant is evident from the minute you meet. Now let’s get onto the food. One word: WOW! Every dish was not only divine, the presentation was also beautiful. Order every starter (we did!) and the soft-shell crab is a must. The cocktails were also fab. Make sure you pre-book as it was obvious from the packed-out place how popular it is. Thank you to Vivienne and the team. We’ll be back! Lisa, Theo, Deb, Ian, Dawny and Bob x

Let’s talk Koh Samui in general. Would I go back? Probably not. It is definitely more built-up than I thought it would be. Yes, it had a great selection of bars and restaurants, but it didn’t feel as ‘local’ as some of the places we visited. However, it’s a great place to fly into to get to other islands.

The next day, Theo and I left the fam to head off to Koh Tao for a few days. We got there by ferry which was super simple. It took about two hours and was a gorgeous journey. We sat outside in the shaded seated section, read our books and watched the hundreds of islands roll past us.

From the moment we got to Koh Tao we knew we were going to love it. It had that small island vibe that we had been dreaming of. We headed to our accommodation, Langkai Gardens, which was spectacular. Honestly, the dream spot with the dream view. Unfortunately we had to move from there after one night as the farmer next door had cockerels which kept us awake all night LOL! The management were amazing and I can reassure you the cockerels have now been moved to another field. We’ll definitely be staying there the next time we head back. So, we ended up booking Sai Daeng which was also lovely, a small resort with a private beach only five minutes from town.

Great things about Koh Tao

The snorkelling was INSANE!! This is where we swam with 20 reef sharks and tons of tropical fish. It was magical.

The strip has a kinda Ibiza Town vibe about it. Loads of very cool restaurants and bars but not too many.

WE WENT TO A JUNGLE RAVE! I mean honestly, this was one of the highlights of our trip and I would highly recommend it. To be dancing in the jungle, surrounded by the trees and the sounds of the monkeys and the birds was just MEGA.

We were lucky enough to be there on the day of the local food market. That was incredible. A brilliant atmosphere and you’re talking 20p for a sushi roll!

The beaches are beautiful. Stunningly beautiful.

So all in all, we would highly recommend Koh Tao.

Back to Koh Samui we hopped for another two nights with the fam. And at the top of our list was a visit to the Elephant Sanctuary. Now I must let you know that there are many mistreated elephants in Thailand. So please avoid any type of touristy area that advertises them such as certain waterfall trips. Do your research and for the love of God, do not ride an elephant, no matter how fun this may seem. They are NOT fairground rides. However, the few sanctuaries that exist are wonderful places and saviours to a lot of abused animals. Seeing these magnificent creatures being so well looked after was a wonderful experience.

We got to feed them and stroke them and there was an option to go into the water with them. However, we didn’t feel comfortable with this. Not because we wouldn’t have loved to do this, but because they are still wild animals and need their space. Saying this, I do want to reiterate that these beautiful animals have been saved from hellish situations so seeing them in a safe environment was just great. So do visit if you can as the sanctuary can only stay open thanks to its visitors.

Our next stop was Krabi. This was a quick one-hour flight. Shout out to Koh Samui airport btw. Literally the cutest and well looked after airport we’ve ever been to.

Krabi is the place to go if you want to island hop. It’s surrounded by them and the ferry access is great. Super-easy to travel around but just make sure you get to the ports a good hour in advance to guarantee a ticket.

We started our stay in an Eco hotel, the Anana, which was lovely. Very chic and super chilled

Remember I told you we only book 50% of our trip? Well, this is a good example of why. Originally, we were planning on going to Phi Phi. But after chatting to some locals, we were told that it was absolutely packed and that, because of the tides, you had to get boats to the north-side of the island, the side with the nice hotels. These only came a few times a day meaning you could be stranded! So that was a no. However, we knew we wanted to explore the beaches as we had heard great things. So instead, we booked a private speedboat trip with Krabi VIP Tours. This cost around £130 each (there were four of us) and was sooooo worth it.

We set off at 7am and were picked up from our hotels, this was included in the price. Then we met our gorgeous host for the day who introduced us to the two-man crew and off we set.

Guys, I’ve gotta tell ya, this was one of the best trips I’ve ever done. We hopped from beach to beach with the crew using their extensive knowledge to guide us to the best spots. 70% of the beaches we headed to were empty. So empty that I could see a Leo DiCaprio mirage in the horizon. And when a spot seemed a little too busy, we could just ask the crew to move to the next.

The snorkelling was some of the best I’ve ever done, and I’ve been lucky enough to snorkel in a lot of spots, including the Great Barrier reef and this was just as good, if not better. The neon coral, the parrot fish, the reef sharks, the Nemos! A whole world under water that I would be happy to be part of. I mean I know they’ve just brought out the new Little Mermaid, but if you’re casting for the next one……

We also got to stop off at the mainland for an organised lunch. We wandered around the hustle and bustle of the town and soon realised that our choice to do a boat trip rather than a three-day trip was justified. The town was packed and pretty commercial. Incomparable to the beautiful beaches we’d visited on the circumference of the island. Also, I have to say, if you can afford it, the private boat trip is more than worth it. We saw many a boat packed to the brim with people. It gave off Jubilee line at 8am vibes. *Shudder*

Our final spot before we headed back to Bangkok was to a small island with only 5000 residents called Koh Yao Noi. This was another last-minute booking and boy, it was a great choice. Before I go into the deets, you’ve probably noticed that it was pretty easy to book last minute accommodation. I’m not sure if that was to do with the time of year or because we were lucky, but I would say that 70% of the hotels we looked at had space. Top tip, look at the rates on the big sites like booking.com and then email the hotel direct and see if they can do a better rate. They did every time. And cash is still king in Thailand so if you can pay in the local currency of Thai Bhat, do. Actually, before I forget, make sure you tip. This makes a huge difference to the locals. They earn very little so were extremely grateful with any amount. Giving the equivalent of a £5 tip to someone who has given great service can make their day. And can be, in fact, the same as they earn in a day. So be as generous as you can and always carry cash.

Back to Koh Yao Noi. We got a boat from Krabi and arrived at the port after 60 minutes. We grabbed a taxi and headed to our hotel. Guys, this journey was one of our faves. It was immediately clear that we had landed in a tropical paradise. We were surrounded by lush jungle that kept getting more and more beautiful the further we went. And then we arrived at Paradise. The best name to describe this place EVER. Such a dream location.

From the gorgeous room with its own plunge pool, to the private beach with views of islands in the distance, to the outdoor spa, the ponds full of majestic lily pads, to the beach bar with the friendliest spot. There was nothing we didn’t love. We spent 3 chilled days here. Reading books, swimming in the sea, drinking mojitos, eating papaya salads. It was truly wonderful and the perfect way to end our trip.

Before I end this post I’ve obviously got to mention the massages. I had one every third day-lol! And I would recommend you do the same. I was paying between £5 and £30 for 90 minutes depending on the location and yes, they were some of the best I’ve ever had. They even have massage parlours at the airports, a great excuse to go a little early.

So to summarise, Thailand is magic. We will be going back to explore more. Once you are there it is pretty cheap. We were probably spending about £30 each a day, not including accommodation. Obviously Bangkok is way more expensive, but on the islands, you could have a mojito and some chicken satay for less than a fiver. So visit, explore and do share your Thailand tips below.

Love

Lisa x